Maps and Colonialism
One of the major leitmotifs of the Scientific Revolution is exploration. Alongside invention, discovery was championed as one of the era's chief accomplishments. Exploring the world enabled Europeans to study cultures and civilizations of other continents, to import extra–European innovations to their home continent, and to create the transformations of the Scientific Revolution. We have selected maps that highlight both the importance of exploration to the Scientific Revolution and the impact extra–European knowledge, and a fascination with extra–European realms, had on the movement.
Claes Janszoon Visscher’s Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica Ac Hydrographica Tabula (New Geographic and Hydrographic Map of the Entire World), from Atlas Minor
1652
This highly colorful and decorative map showcases the entire world. Its intricate border, which features illustrations of people from different regions of the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, conveys the sense of global dominance that Europeans harbored. Looking clockwise from the top left, depictions of people as they get further away from Europe appear to get more simplistic, capturing the European notion of the hierarchy of civilizations. This map, however, also reflects the growing interest Europeans had in the rest of the world; they were beginning to recognize the complexity, diversity, and usefulness of other cultures. And this recognition had important implications for the pluralistic development of new scientific theories and practices.
H. Terasson’s Map of North America
1717
This map of North America exemplifies European reliance on indigenous knowledge. Its inscriptions suggest that European cartographers lacked direct familiarity with the land referred to as "Turtle Island" in certain Native American traditions. European cartographers likely depended on the Gnacsitares, a Siouan people living in the eastern region of the Great Plains, for topographic knowledge of the area. The illustrations located in the upper-left corner depicts a sexualized Native American woman, conforming to stereotypical views Europeans held at the time. Displaying sexualized, naked Native American women as a representation of the Americas reflects the European view that America's lands and its natural resources were vulnerable and inviting exploitation.